Chapter 12 - Tick-Tock
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Danny let go of the breath he was holding as he carefully cut a wire. Studying the bomb, Danny could see the path he needed to take to finish the job. There was only three wires left to be cut; the end was in sight. The only question that remained was: could he finish in time?
Danny, Chin, Kono, Duke, and Ben.
A splintered team that refused to die.
It hadn't been a long since the last time they had gathered, but as Danny looked around the room it felt like it had been a lifetime. There was so much he wanted to say but they only had a short amount of time before Kono needed to rejoin the Coast Guard cutter that was currently refueling at Pearl Harbor.
Chin broke the silence by setting a pile of warrants on the table. He shuffled through them and then handed one to Duke. "I worked with Manicote and we have the authority to search the Morning's Light."
"And dose others?" Kono asked.
Chin picked up the others and placed them in an inner jacket pocket. "These I will serve myself."
Danny had a good hunch as to whose names were on those other warrants and he didn't blame Chin for wanting to personally take care of the situation and if his badge hadn't been revoked he might have begged Chin for the chance to help. "Does everyone know the plan?"
Four heads nodded and Ben quickly summarized, "Duke's going to lead the team we put together for the raid; we hope this will keep Zar from being suspicious of any chatter over the radio. Chin and I will support Duke's team and help gain control of the ship. Kono will be abroad the cutter USCG Olson which will coordinate with Harbor Patrol to keep her from fleeing out to sea."
Duke looked sternly at Danny and the former Five-O detective braced himself for what he knew was to come. "Danny will accompany and advise us in a civilian role. Danny, do you understand that I can't let you personally get involved in the raid? We need to do this by the book."
Gritting his teeth at the unfairness of it all, Danny replied, "I understand."
Then taking one more look at the people whom he loved, Danny said firmly, "We can do this. I believe in every one of you. These past couple weeks have been some of the hardest we have every had to face but we are still here, still fighting. They split us apart but they couldn't stop us from working together and together we will end this."
As Kono walked up the ramp onto the USCG Olson, he made no attempt to hide who he was or why he was abroad. Any tricks or attempts to sneak would have failed abroad such a small ship. The only reason the James Konst impersonation was successful was because he was a recent transfer who was murdered before any of the crew had been able to meet him.
When Kono feet hit the deck he was met by the cutter's captain, Charles Bost, who immediately greeted the detective. "Officer Kalakaua. I was told you uncovered evidence about a ship carrying a load of heroin."
"Yes, Sir," Kono stated, "the Blue Coral. She's scheduled to come in within the next couple of hours."
Bost turned and faced the crew who were gathered on the deck. "Men, you heard Kalakaua. Get to your stations and prepare to cast off. We have a target."
The crew hurried to their stations and Bost led Kono to the bridge. Looking around the ship, Kono couldn't help but grin; he wasn't hiding who he was or why he was abroad but that didn't mean he couldn't lie about the cutter's target.
Once Kono reached the bridge, Bost told him that they could speak freely. "Konst, or whoever is impersonating him, has been assigned to work with one of my most trustworthy men. However, I don't like leaving him free abroad my ship."
"We don't have a choice," Kono replied. "We can't risk dat Konst's job is ta let the slavers know if da coast is free. Once da Morning's Light is in American waters, he is all yours."
"Very well," Konst signed. "Stay back, I need to give the order to cast off."
Kono did as he was commanded and watched as the cutter left dock and began its regular patrol route west of Oahu. A couple of hours passed when word came to the bridge that Blue Coral had been spotted. Kono grew excited because he knew that the Blue Coral's presence meant the Morning's Light had been spotted by other Coast Guard ships patrolling the area. Chin had worked hard to get the cooperation of all the local agencies and once they all realized that they were going after those who enslaved children, all had agreed to fully cooperate in this rather unorthodox plan.
A petty officer approached Captain Bost, saluted and said, "Message, Sir. Chief Varns noticed Konst fiddling with an unauthorized radio a few moments ago but did not intercede."
"Good," Bost said. "Tell Varns to maintain surveillance and have a group of men standing by to arrest Konst as soon as I give the order."
As the young Coast Guardsman acknowledged the orders and then left, Bost turned to Kono. "Looks like you were right about the message."
Kono nodded to show that he heard but his attention was elsewhere as he spotted the Morning's Light enter American waters. "Dere she is."
Bost quickly barked out orders that to those watching the ship would make it look like she was pursuing the Blue Coral when in reality they could easily turn and trap their true target in port.
Everything was going according to plan.
It had been a long voyage.
A weary Steve looked out over the railing as he spotted the familiar Hawaiian coastline. However, he didn't have time to linger as the ship was a bustle of activity as she prepared to dock. Working as a crewman had been hard work, both mentally and psychically. While Steve was in good shape, the back-breaking labor had pushed him to his limit but that was nothing compared to the stress of maintaining his cover.
But it was worth it. Steve had reached Hawaii and now all he had to do was make sure the authorities searched the Morning Light before her illegal cargo disappeared. Steve had not yet found the girls but he wasn't concerned. As new crew Steve had been clear instructions about what parts of the ship were off limits and he stayed clear of the restricted areas for he knew that he would accomplish nothing if his cover was blown in the middle of the ocean. However, obeying orders had paid off, for when Steve had been assigned to work in the mess he noticed that more food was being prepared than what was being served to the crew. Those girls were abroad, Steve was certain.
As the ship prepared to dock, Steve hurried aft and helped pick up a mooring line. When the order was given they threw the line to waiting workers on the dock. While those on the dock worked, Steve glanced around the harbor and was rewarded when he spotted the gray hair attached to the familiar face of Duke Lukela who was peeking out from behind a nearby warehouse.
Inwardly, Steve smiled. If Duke was here than others would be too and now that Steve knew to look for HPD, he spotted several more officers scattered around the harbor. Then moving to fulfill other orders, Steve glanced out to sea and noticed a Coast Guard cutter closing on another ship. However, he could tell by the ship's positioning that it could easily move to cut them off. It looked like Tang Yi had gotten their message through.
Just as that thought crossed Steve's mind, the Morning's Light ramp was lowered and before he could blink HPD moved in. Flashing blue and whites raced into the dock to provide cover for the officers and block escape by land. Dozens of officers run into the area wearing bullet proof vests and took up positions behind the vehicles, Duke in the lead with Chin beside him
As much as Steve wanted to smile and watch this unfold, he couldn't afford to drop his cover yet. He was stuck on a ship with very dangerous men who were trapped which could potentially make them unpredictable. So Steve mimicked the actions of his fellow crewmen by backing away from the railing and looking around for orders.
Captain Largo stormed down from the bridge to look at the situation.
"Sir," a crewman called out, "they have us trapped by the sea too." Steve looked and saw that the cutter had moved into position and two other cutters had appeared and where moving in.
Captain Largo turned and screamed at a muscular Chinese man that Steve recognized as Xu Qiang. "You told me that the authorities would never suspect us!"
Xu's eyes narrowed as he replied firmly, "I have matters under control."
An uneasy feeling crept into Steve's gut. He had seen Xu watching the crew before; he held himself apart like an officer but Xu's role had never been defined. Now Steve had the feeling that this was one of Da Shu's men, sent to supervise the cargo. This was the man that they needed to capture alive in order to find Da Shu.
"Under control!" the raging captain countered. "You have doomed us all."
A bull-horn amplified voice interrupted the conversation. "Attention, Morning's Light, my name is Sergeant Lukela and I have warrants to search your ship and inspect your cargo. I am ordering you and your men to stand down and prepare to be boarded."
Largo moved to ordered his men to obey but Xu roughly grabbed the captain and forced him to stand still, "Captain, I won't do that if I were you; this ship is rigged to explore and I will kill us all before I let the authorities have us."
Then to confirm his threat, Xu pulled out a remote trigger for bomb and held it in his hand. "I have prepared for every eventuality."
All the blood drained from the Captain's face as he stared at the man who had hired him. "You're insane."
"No," Xu replied. "Just dedicated. Now you be quiet, I need to explain the situation to that cop."
Shaking, the captain complied as Steve watched helplessly. He understood what was going on here. Xu knew that he had nothing to lose. If the authorities were allowed to search the ship, they would find the girls and he would spend the rest of his life in prison. But if the ship was destroyed everyone abroad would die and the evidence they needed to put a halt to this whole operation would go up in smoke. Da Shu could regroup and his organization would live on.
"Lukela! I hope you're listening. Because I have rigged this ship with explosives and if any of your men come closer, I will blow her out of the water. You have five minutes to pull your men back and clear a path to international waters."
A bomb!
As Duke comprehended the new development he couldn't help but notice that Danny had immediately ran for his car, the same vehicle that he used as a detective but had failed to turn in since he had been removed from the force.
Worried about what the younger man would do, Duke ordered Chin to call the bomb squad and warn the Coast Guard and followed the former detective. "Danny, what are you doing?" Duke demanded.
Danny pulled out of kit of tools from the trunk. "Duke, we both know that I am the only person here with the knowledge to disarm this bomb. I don't care if I'm not on the force, I'm going to stand here and watch everyone die when I can stop this!"
"You're going to sneak on the ship!"
"Yes," Danny declared. "Duke, I need you to stall for as long as you can. I've been trained but I am going to need time."
"How do you expect to get aboard?"
Ben stepped forward. "I can get Danny abroad and protect him while he disarms the bomb as long as he doesn't mind going for a swim." When Danny didn't protest, Ben said, "Come on, I know where we can get some wetsuits."
Duke followed Danny as he and Ben grabbed wetsuits and waterproof bags from another squad car and prepared themselves.
Knowing that there was nothing he could say or do to keep his Danny away from that bomb, Duke simply asked, his voice full of concern, "Danny, can you do this?"
Reaching down and picking up the waterproof bag that held his essential tools, Danny walked to the edge of the dock. Right before diving in, the former Five-O detective looked Duke right in the eyes and answered, "Yes."
Danny, Chin, Kono, Duke, and Ben.
A splintered team that refused to die.
It hadn't been a long since the last time they had gathered, but as Danny looked around the room it felt like it had been a lifetime. There was so much he wanted to say but they only had a short amount of time before Kono needed to rejoin the Coast Guard cutter that was currently refueling at Pearl Harbor.
Chin broke the silence by setting a pile of warrants on the table. He shuffled through them and then handed one to Duke. "I worked with Manicote and we have the authority to search the Morning's Light."
"And dose others?" Kono asked.
Chin picked up the others and placed them in an inner jacket pocket. "These I will serve myself."
Danny had a good hunch as to whose names were on those other warrants and he didn't blame Chin for wanting to personally take care of the situation and if his badge hadn't been revoked he might have begged Chin for the chance to help. "Does everyone know the plan?"
Four heads nodded and Ben quickly summarized, "Duke's going to lead the team we put together for the raid; we hope this will keep Zar from being suspicious of any chatter over the radio. Chin and I will support Duke's team and help gain control of the ship. Kono will be abroad the cutter USCG Olson which will coordinate with Harbor Patrol to keep her from fleeing out to sea."
Duke looked sternly at Danny and the former Five-O detective braced himself for what he knew was to come. "Danny will accompany and advise us in a civilian role. Danny, do you understand that I can't let you personally get involved in the raid? We need to do this by the book."
Gritting his teeth at the unfairness of it all, Danny replied, "I understand."
Then taking one more look at the people whom he loved, Danny said firmly, "We can do this. I believe in every one of you. These past couple weeks have been some of the hardest we have every had to face but we are still here, still fighting. They split us apart but they couldn't stop us from working together and together we will end this."
As Kono walked up the ramp onto the USCG Olson, he made no attempt to hide who he was or why he was abroad. Any tricks or attempts to sneak would have failed abroad such a small ship. The only reason the James Konst impersonation was successful was because he was a recent transfer who was murdered before any of the crew had been able to meet him.
When Kono feet hit the deck he was met by the cutter's captain, Charles Bost, who immediately greeted the detective. "Officer Kalakaua. I was told you uncovered evidence about a ship carrying a load of heroin."
"Yes, Sir," Kono stated, "the Blue Coral. She's scheduled to come in within the next couple of hours."
Bost turned and faced the crew who were gathered on the deck. "Men, you heard Kalakaua. Get to your stations and prepare to cast off. We have a target."
The crew hurried to their stations and Bost led Kono to the bridge. Looking around the ship, Kono couldn't help but grin; he wasn't hiding who he was or why he was abroad but that didn't mean he couldn't lie about the cutter's target.
Once Kono reached the bridge, Bost told him that they could speak freely. "Konst, or whoever is impersonating him, has been assigned to work with one of my most trustworthy men. However, I don't like leaving him free abroad my ship."
"We don't have a choice," Kono replied. "We can't risk dat Konst's job is ta let the slavers know if da coast is free. Once da Morning's Light is in American waters, he is all yours."
"Very well," Konst signed. "Stay back, I need to give the order to cast off."
Kono did as he was commanded and watched as the cutter left dock and began its regular patrol route west of Oahu. A couple of hours passed when word came to the bridge that Blue Coral had been spotted. Kono grew excited because he knew that the Blue Coral's presence meant the Morning's Light had been spotted by other Coast Guard ships patrolling the area. Chin had worked hard to get the cooperation of all the local agencies and once they all realized that they were going after those who enslaved children, all had agreed to fully cooperate in this rather unorthodox plan.
A petty officer approached Captain Bost, saluted and said, "Message, Sir. Chief Varns noticed Konst fiddling with an unauthorized radio a few moments ago but did not intercede."
"Good," Bost said. "Tell Varns to maintain surveillance and have a group of men standing by to arrest Konst as soon as I give the order."
As the young Coast Guardsman acknowledged the orders and then left, Bost turned to Kono. "Looks like you were right about the message."
Kono nodded to show that he heard but his attention was elsewhere as he spotted the Morning's Light enter American waters. "Dere she is."
Bost quickly barked out orders that to those watching the ship would make it look like she was pursuing the Blue Coral when in reality they could easily turn and trap their true target in port.
Everything was going according to plan.
It had been a long voyage.
A weary Steve looked out over the railing as he spotted the familiar Hawaiian coastline. However, he didn't have time to linger as the ship was a bustle of activity as she prepared to dock. Working as a crewman had been hard work, both mentally and psychically. While Steve was in good shape, the back-breaking labor had pushed him to his limit but that was nothing compared to the stress of maintaining his cover.
But it was worth it. Steve had reached Hawaii and now all he had to do was make sure the authorities searched the Morning Light before her illegal cargo disappeared. Steve had not yet found the girls but he wasn't concerned. As new crew Steve had been clear instructions about what parts of the ship were off limits and he stayed clear of the restricted areas for he knew that he would accomplish nothing if his cover was blown in the middle of the ocean. However, obeying orders had paid off, for when Steve had been assigned to work in the mess he noticed that more food was being prepared than what was being served to the crew. Those girls were abroad, Steve was certain.
As the ship prepared to dock, Steve hurried aft and helped pick up a mooring line. When the order was given they threw the line to waiting workers on the dock. While those on the dock worked, Steve glanced around the harbor and was rewarded when he spotted the gray hair attached to the familiar face of Duke Lukela who was peeking out from behind a nearby warehouse.
Inwardly, Steve smiled. If Duke was here than others would be too and now that Steve knew to look for HPD, he spotted several more officers scattered around the harbor. Then moving to fulfill other orders, Steve glanced out to sea and noticed a Coast Guard cutter closing on another ship. However, he could tell by the ship's positioning that it could easily move to cut them off. It looked like Tang Yi had gotten their message through.
Just as that thought crossed Steve's mind, the Morning's Light ramp was lowered and before he could blink HPD moved in. Flashing blue and whites raced into the dock to provide cover for the officers and block escape by land. Dozens of officers run into the area wearing bullet proof vests and took up positions behind the vehicles, Duke in the lead with Chin beside him
As much as Steve wanted to smile and watch this unfold, he couldn't afford to drop his cover yet. He was stuck on a ship with very dangerous men who were trapped which could potentially make them unpredictable. So Steve mimicked the actions of his fellow crewmen by backing away from the railing and looking around for orders.
Captain Largo stormed down from the bridge to look at the situation.
"Sir," a crewman called out, "they have us trapped by the sea too." Steve looked and saw that the cutter had moved into position and two other cutters had appeared and where moving in.
Captain Largo turned and screamed at a muscular Chinese man that Steve recognized as Xu Qiang. "You told me that the authorities would never suspect us!"
Xu's eyes narrowed as he replied firmly, "I have matters under control."
An uneasy feeling crept into Steve's gut. He had seen Xu watching the crew before; he held himself apart like an officer but Xu's role had never been defined. Now Steve had the feeling that this was one of Da Shu's men, sent to supervise the cargo. This was the man that they needed to capture alive in order to find Da Shu.
"Under control!" the raging captain countered. "You have doomed us all."
A bull-horn amplified voice interrupted the conversation. "Attention, Morning's Light, my name is Sergeant Lukela and I have warrants to search your ship and inspect your cargo. I am ordering you and your men to stand down and prepare to be boarded."
Largo moved to ordered his men to obey but Xu roughly grabbed the captain and forced him to stand still, "Captain, I won't do that if I were you; this ship is rigged to explore and I will kill us all before I let the authorities have us."
Then to confirm his threat, Xu pulled out a remote trigger for bomb and held it in his hand. "I have prepared for every eventuality."
All the blood drained from the Captain's face as he stared at the man who had hired him. "You're insane."
"No," Xu replied. "Just dedicated. Now you be quiet, I need to explain the situation to that cop."
Shaking, the captain complied as Steve watched helplessly. He understood what was going on here. Xu knew that he had nothing to lose. If the authorities were allowed to search the ship, they would find the girls and he would spend the rest of his life in prison. But if the ship was destroyed everyone abroad would die and the evidence they needed to put a halt to this whole operation would go up in smoke. Da Shu could regroup and his organization would live on.
"Lukela! I hope you're listening. Because I have rigged this ship with explosives and if any of your men come closer, I will blow her out of the water. You have five minutes to pull your men back and clear a path to international waters."
A bomb!
As Duke comprehended the new development he couldn't help but notice that Danny had immediately ran for his car, the same vehicle that he used as a detective but had failed to turn in since he had been removed from the force.
Worried about what the younger man would do, Duke ordered Chin to call the bomb squad and warn the Coast Guard and followed the former detective. "Danny, what are you doing?" Duke demanded.
Danny pulled out of kit of tools from the trunk. "Duke, we both know that I am the only person here with the knowledge to disarm this bomb. I don't care if I'm not on the force, I'm going to stand here and watch everyone die when I can stop this!"
"You're going to sneak on the ship!"
"Yes," Danny declared. "Duke, I need you to stall for as long as you can. I've been trained but I am going to need time."
"How do you expect to get aboard?"
Ben stepped forward. "I can get Danny abroad and protect him while he disarms the bomb as long as he doesn't mind going for a swim." When Danny didn't protest, Ben said, "Come on, I know where we can get some wetsuits."
Duke followed Danny as he and Ben grabbed wetsuits and waterproof bags from another squad car and prepared themselves.
Knowing that there was nothing he could say or do to keep his Danny away from that bomb, Duke simply asked, his voice full of concern, "Danny, can you do this?"
Reaching down and picking up the waterproof bag that held his essential tools, Danny walked to the edge of the dock. Right before diving in, the former Five-O detective looked Duke right in the eyes and answered, "Yes."